I am speaking vaguely, more focused on the thought than the specifics. We have evolved from being a family of millions to one in less than a century. Yes, that has been the speed of fragmentation and there is no exaggeration whatsoever.
The 30s and 40s was when the community was intertwined to the maximum. There was this sense of collective belonging and dare I say collective conscious which resulted in a tightly woven social fabric. We were a family of millions
Then came the 50s and 60s when early cracks appeared. Yet there was this unmistakable feeling of oneness and mutual need and shared preferences. Sure, individual aspirations varied and so did conditions, but the drive for separation had not yet taken root. Thousands still coexisted and celebrated the homogeneity.
It was in the 70s and the 80s when fractures were no longer hairline cracks but visible faultlines. Towns and villages which once felt like an extended family were reduced to smaller societies, lanes and wards firmly demarcating who belonged where. And yet children could run around a few kilometres in any direction, the family was still a hundred strong.
People of my generation remember the 90s with romantic fondness. No other generation indulges in nostalgia as much as we do, or so we think. Although if we look back objectively, that was when the real damage begun. Rapid urbanization picked pace and the quest for materialism first appeared, often if not always overriding bonds. Despite this joint families managed to exist. Hated for their domination, but the patriarchs wielded authority and kept the unit together, which was now reduced to tens.
Turn of the century saw unprecedented migration, villages moving to urban spaces and urban population moving across oceans. People became commodities and it was accepted, no it was celebrated, since it bought along unforeseen wealth and prosperity. The obvious side effect was that the family now became largely nuclear.
Covid much like modern warfare did not indulge in carpet bombing, it was a precision strike aimed to dismantle the last remaining form of cohabitation. Bubbles which were aimed to prevent or reduce infection became a new normal and we have reached a stage where not only have we accepted solitude, we are adapting it and actively seeking it.
Do you think I am exaggerating? Look around, it may appear that we are coexisting under one roof but we are not. We are confined to our pods and while they are invisible for now, I won’t be surprised if they become a reality.
Why does one need a 1000sqft space to live when one can live perfectly well in less than 100sqft? Imagine a pod which is fully self-contained. Air, water, food comes in, waste go out. Every perceivable service reaches the window. You are in a perfect bubble with little or no engagement. Your life in the bubble or pod is aided by AI and technology in general. Less than a century ago this would have sounded like science fiction, it no longer does, we are there already. The virtual bubble is upon us; it is a matter of few years before we achieve full transformation to the pod life.
What next? Given the speed of shrinkage which follows the spiral, each reduction taking fewer years than the previous, how long does pod life sustain? What after that, does humanity transform into cyborg form or simply cease to exist? This is not fear mongering; this is question staring in our face. Do we dodge it? Confront it? Or do we engage with it?
P.S.: I am not here to debate the pros and cons of each decade. Neither am I stating that the pod life is evil. I want you to think about whether this is a lifestyle of our own choice or is it thrust upon us by unseen forces. If the later is true or at least there is reason to believe that might be the case, then is it not time we reassess? And if it is indeed our choice and if it brings peace like never before then those like me who feel left out have little choice but to align with this new world order. Scary and sad but true nevertheless.
